Wednesday, July 12, 2017

MiloY

I have been receiving the postings from Milo Yiannopoulos and his team. Clearly these are of value in the interest of sampling a wide variety of opinion.

Some things Milo says are needlessly provocative and hinder reception of his more valid assertions (yes, there are some as I will explain presently). I am not a feminist, but his assertion that feminism is a cancer is irresponsible and inaccurate. Feminism is not monolithic: it comes in many varieties and one can choose the assertions therein that one wants to subscribe to. Apparently, even Milo believes that women must have equal treatment under the law.

In a recent interview Milo condensed his views into two main principles. First, he is opposed to political correctness with its assumption that only one set of views is legitimate; divergence from this orthodoxy must be discouraged or suppressed. Of course PC advocates are entitled to express their views; they just must stop insisting that they are the only acceptable ones. I agree.

Secondly, he points out that the commanding heights of the American knowledge and opinion industries, namely academia, the mainstream media, and Hollywood, are overwhelmingly liberal, in figures approaching 9 to 1. Despite denials, this is so, as many surveys have shown.

Then there is his attitude to Islam, sometimes disfigured to be sure by rhetorical exaggeration. He makes three points about Muslims: unwillingness to accept the principle of freedom of opinion and expression; inferiorization of women; and the belief that homosexual conduct must be forbidden. In this context I remain puzzled by the left's longterm love affair with Islam. Maybe this strange infatuation is ebbing now; I hope so.

1 Comments:

I think your portrayal of a "love affair" by the left for Islam is incorrect. The left is multicultural and open to difference. Islam is a culture, and different, (not to mention "authentic"), therefore by the syllogism of the left, worthy of inclusion in the Benetton Tapestry. That is the basic principle, and if many segments of Islamic society are misogynist bigots, well, to some extent we have to swallow differences of many types to make the multiculti thing work. White subcultures in the US are the same way. So the question is how far to extend the benefit of charitable thoughts, as the Dutch have done, perhaps to excess.

About Me

I like to consider myself a citizen of Cosmopolis, ranging widely across the humanities. I have traveled to 45 countries, and speak five languages. Out of self-interest, I am concerned with current affairs in my own country. Writing is important to me: I have published seventeen books (including edited volumes).
My beginning the blog coincided with my retirement. No longer muzzled, I felt, by the demands of being a salaried professor, I gave vent to my untrammeled opinions. Sometimes, perhaps, too much so--but it is my right, all the same. Here is an appropriate motto from La Fontaine: Est bien fou du cerveau qui prétend contenter tout le monde et son père. ("The Miller, His Son, and the Donkey"). For my work in linguistics see the revised (electronic) version of Homolexis at www.williamapercy.com/homolexis/index.php?title=Main_Page; for the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality, see:
http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/EOH/index.htm. See also the electronic version of my 1987 book, Homosexuality: A Research Guide (/www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/ResGde/main.htm).